India's central banking institution, Reserve Bank of India is responsible for controlling the monetary policy of the country. Since 2015, RBI conducts a national-level recruitment examination for selection of its grade B level officers. And banking being one of the most prestigious and lucrative career options for young graduates, annually lakhs of students appear for the examination. The difficulty level of these examinations may vary from moderate to high. But what makes it challenging is the level of competition for the limited number of posts.

However, the RBI Grade B recruitment test comprises three stages: Phase I, Phase II (both Online), and an interview. The official notification has been released with 166 Grade B officer vacancies for the year 2018 and the online application has been already closed. The online exam is scheduled to be held on 16th August and 7th September 2018 in multiple shifts and the admit card will be available to download before 10 days of the exam. Apparently, in 2017 close 2 lakhs candidates appeared the RBI Grade ‘B' Phase I exam.

Job Profile:

Followed by the selection of the candidates as Grade B Officer in RBI, they are asked to undergo a training of 15 weeks and post that, the candidates are allotted to various departments of the bank. Some of the departments that may be allotted to the candidates are Banking Supervision, HRD, Foreign Exchange, Currency Issuing, Banking Regulation and so on. The RBI is a regulator and there are plenty of opportunities that one can earn being in this job.

Selection Procedure:

The final selection of the candidates goes through three phases: Prelims, Mains and Interview. While the Prelims phase is Objective in nature, Mains phase would comprise of the objective as well as descriptive test. Varying to a great extent, Prelims phase consists of the common sections that are asked in exams, i.e., Quant, Reasoning, English and General Awareness and  Mains phase on the other hand tests Finance, Management, Economic and Social issues.

Exam Patterns:

RBI Grade B Prelims exam would comprise of 4 sections, with a total 2 hours duration. The Mains phase, on the other hand, would have 3 separate tests, 2 objectives and 1 descriptive. Students, however, need to devote a good amount of time before attempting any of the phases.

Preparation Tips:

Going through the previous years exam papers and attempting optimum numbers of mock tests is undoubtedly one of the most important factors an RBI Grade B aspirant should consider. The changes in exam pattern should be identified accordingly and prepare accordingly. Students can also take help from online coaching providers if physical guidance is not available, which will show them a right direction to stay informed. Lastly, being motivated till the last moment will assist the candidates to sit for the exam with sheer confidence and eventually achieve success.